Let me see if I got this straight. A person with no ID starts walking past a capitol polics officer. The officer asks to see ID politely, too, I'd bet). The person ignores the officer and just keeps walking. The officer grabs the person to stop them. (his job is to prevent entry by unauthorized persons, right? Why else is he there?) The person then belts the officer. Now belting a cop is generally understood by everyome with an IQ higher than a snail's to be a bad idea. Finally the persn produces ID and the officer lets her enter (why didn't she just do that at the start?). She then screms and yells about "police britality" and "racism". (She is black.) OTOH, the cop was doing his assigned job.) Even other Dems like Shrillary back away and won't touch this one. After noticing she's out on that limb all by herself, she apoligizes. However, it ain't over till its over. The US attorney is comsidering an arrest warrant for her.
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Rep. McKinney apologizes for scuffle with cop
Congresswoman expresses ‘sincere regret’ after raising specter of racism
WASHINGTON - Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., expressed “sincere regret” Thursday for her altercation with a Capitol police officer, and offered an apology to the House.
“There should not have been any physical contact in this incident,” McKinney said in brief remarks on the House floor. “I am sorry that this misunderstanding happened at all and I regret its escalation and I apologize.”
McKinney’s comments came after the case had been referred to a federal grand jury for possible prosecution.
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She had previously insisted she had done nothing wrong, and accused police of “racial profiling.” She is African-American and the police officer is white.
McKinney, 51, has a history of confrontations with officers.
In this case, she entered the Capitol without passing through the metal detector that screens visitors to the building. Members of Congress are permitted to bypass the machines, but she was not wearing the pin that identified her as a House member at the time.
The officer, whose name has not been made public, has said he asked her three times to stop. She did not.
Terrance Gainer, outgoing chief of the Capitol police force, has said that the officer placed a hand on her and she responded by hitting him. He said McKinney’s race was not a factor.
Democrats quiet
The incident has embarrassed Democrats, including fellow members of the Congressional Black Caucus, none of whom have publicly defended her behavior in the March 29 incident.
Rep. Mel Watt, the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, has had no statement on the incident. The caucus’ silence stands in stark contrast to its investigations of past scuffles between the U.S. Capitol Police and members.
One such probe occurred in 1990, when the caucus investigated whether Rep. Mickey Edwards, R-Okla. poked a black female Capitol Police officer and shouted curses at her, after she had denied entrance to an Edwards staff member who did not have House identification card with her.
A year later, the CBC investigated an incident in which a Capitol Police officer allegedly denied Rep. Louis Stokes, D-Ohio, entrance to the garage of the Rayburn House Office Building because the officer did not believe Stokes was a member.
msnbc.msn.com
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U.S. Attorney Reviewing McKinney Case
By LAURIE KELLMAN
The Associated Press
Monday, April 3, 2006; 11:34 PM
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Capitol Police on Monday sought an arrest warrant for Rep. Cynthia McKinney after she tangled with a uniformed officer last week. A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Wainstein said he was reviewing the merits of the case.
"We are working with Capitol Hill police to fully understand and appreciate the incident," principal assistant U.S. Attorney Channing Phillips told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
Rep. Cynthia McKinney, right, D-Ga., is greeted with a kiss by Georgia state Rep. Tyrone Brooks, D-Atlanta, as she was about to address the media at a news conference in Atlanta, Monday, April 3, 2006. Black clergy and lawmakers came the defense of McKinney during the news conference. Capitol Hill police have referred a scuffle between one of their officers and McKinney to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington. (AP Photo/W.A. Harewood)
Rep. Cynthia McKinney, right, D-Ga., is greeted with a kiss by Georgia state Rep. Tyrone Brooks, D-Atlanta, as she was about to address the media at a news conference in Atlanta, Monday, April 3, 2006. Black clergy and lawmakers came the defense of McKinney during the news conference. Capitol Hill police have referred a scuffle between one of their officers and McKinney to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington. (AP Photo/W.A. Harewood) (W.a. Harewood - AP)
McKinney framed the matter in terms of race. "The issue is racial profiling," McKinney, who is black, told CNN.
Neither Phillips nor the police department would say what charge was being sought against the six-term Democrat or when any warrant for her arrest might be issued.
In a statement, Capitol Police said it "has referred its investigative findings to the U.S. attorney." Filing such an affidavit is the first step in obtaining an arrest warrant. Only if Wainstein approves the affidavit can Capitol Police officials ask a judge to issue the arrest warrant.
Wainstein could clear the way for a warrant. He also could turn the case over to a grand jury, even without a warrant, or he could decline to go forward with the case.
McKinney spokesman Coz Carson acknowledged the investigation.
"We're aware that the wheels are turning in Washington," Carson said. "We have no control over what they decide to do. We will make the appropriate statement and take the appropriate action once we know where they're going."
For her part, McKinney said she expects to represent her suburban Atlanta district for many years.
"Rest assured, I am doing the work they sent me to Washington to do. Nothing is going to keep me away from my responsibilities," McKinney told a crowd of supporters in Atlanta on Monday.
McKinney, 51, scuffled with a police officer on March 29 when she entered a House office building without her identifying lapel pin and did not stop when asked.
Several police sources said the officer, who was not identified, asked her three times to stop. When she kept going, he placed a hand somewhere on her and she hit him, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
McKinney issued a statement of regret for the incident but no apology. She and her lawyers have repeatedly declared that she was a victim of inappropriate touching and racism and said they were considering pursuing civil action against the officer.
She and her attorneys have refused to say whether she hit the officer as alleged. James Myart Jr., her lawyer, suggested in a CNN interview that McKinney had acted in self-defense.
Rep. Cynthia McKinney, right, D-Ga., is greeted with a kiss by Georgia state Rep. Tyrone Brooks, D-Atlanta, as she was about to address the media at a news conference in Atlanta, Monday, April 3, 2006. Black clergy and lawmakers came the defense of McKinney during the news conference. Capitol Hill police have referred a scuffle between one of their officers and McKinney to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington. (AP Photo/W.A. Harewood)
Rep. Cynthia McKinney, right, D-Ga., is greeted with a kiss by Georgia state Rep. Tyrone Brooks, D-Atlanta, as she was about to address the media at a news conference in Atlanta, Monday, April 3, 2006. Black clergy and lawmakers came the defense of McKinney during the news conference. Capitol Hill police have referred a scuffle between one of their officers and McKinney to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington. (AP Photo/W.A. Harewood) (W.a. Harewood - AP)
Black clergy and lawmakers came to the defense of the firebrand congresswoman on Monday. McKinney smiled as her supporters heaped praise on her leadership and her new look _ her trademark cornrows replaced earlier this year by a curly brown afro.
Her supporters tried to minimize the incident _ which they called political, not criminal _ but they also suggested it was an example of racial profiling. They called publicity surrounding the episode a distraction that is being used by "her enemies" to keep the congresswoman from performing her elected duties.
The Rev. Darrell D. Elligan, president of Concerned Black Clergy, called McKinney competent, courageous and committed.
"She has our support unconditionally," Elligan said. "She is not a threat to the security of our country."
washingtonpost.com
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